Hybrid Hypocrisy (not OT)

I never said it was the ONLY factor. I'm saying that it is the most visible factor. Look at what's gone on in the past 18 months. Supply & demand have NOT varied in a way that was proportional to the size of the price swings we've seen. Instead, the oil companies have used an indirect measure as an excuse to ratchet prices up and down. Meanwhile, absolutely NOTHING has happened in the Middle East which would affect oil production. Nothing.

My suggestion is to get the "civilians" out of the oil futures game. Their presence is absurd.

Ok by me, but who will buy my order of crude from the primary seller, such as Arabia or Venezuela ect? It's like farm produce. The farmer grows corn, he sells it to the local co-op which in turn sells it to another middle person which sells it to the bread maker or corn packager which in turn sells it to a distributer which in turn sells it to the supermarket down the street. Well how do we cut out all those middle persons? Same for crude, right? I don't see how in a free market place it can be done.

Sell it directly to the oil companies. Middlemen like co-ops and food wholesalers often add value via a service. Traders add none whatsoever. They don't provide storage. They don't provide delivery or enhanced distribution services. All they add is profit for themselves.

Then if that is the problem, how can it be sold directly to the oil companies and cut out the middlemen in a free marketplace? I don't see how there could be a solution to this, saddam reincarnated perhaps? Don't know if this is such a good idea either, he, saddam had his own market scheme.

Forget Saddam. Iraq is not, never was, and never will be a major supplier. This is where government intervention could be useful. Oil is sold by the Saudis, directly to Exxon/Mobil of whoever. No middlemen, other than the ships, which are often leased, or contracted for in the same way grocery companies use common carriers in the trucking industry.

Government intervention then, would that mean we force our companies to buy directly? I'm lost at this point. How would that affect other commodities? Could this also affect our exports? A trade war so to speak?

Ah yes but commodity buyers also buy food stuffs, as well as cattle and other meat futures. Few realize it, but the biggest single 'profit taker' on a gallon of gas are the various governments, in the form of taxes. ;)

mike hunt

I'm not talking about other commodities. I'm talking only about oil - the one commodity that can most quickly hurt this country if the price is artificially manipulated. Think about this: Traders here, who have no material connection to the oil business, are capable of affecting the price based on "fears", or reports of violence in Iraq which have no relevance whatsoever to our oil supply. A car bomb explodes in the middle of Baghdad, and a bunch of suits suddenly have "fears" which cranks up the price of crude. This is bullshit.

But, think backward in this chain of events: Remember (past year, maybe?) when the Saudis thwarted an attack on one of their refineries? That could've been an actual threat, instead a nonsensical "fear" that upsets some guy's fancy lunch. What if the attack had been just a bit more successful, but still did absolutely no damage to the refinery, and therefore had no effect on the oil being shipped? Should terrorists be able to manipulate the price of oil by frightening stockbrokers?

The past year's runup to $3.00, and subsequent drop to current levels, were in NO way related to taxes. It was all play money.